I once was a stranger to grace
and to God. I knew not my danger and felt
not my load. Though friends spoke in rapture
of Christ on the tree, Jehovah's soot came I oft tread with pleasure to
soothe or engage, I say as bold measure, and John's little page. But even when they pictured a
blood-sprinkled tree, Jehovah took in you, seemed nothing to
me. Like tears from the daughters
of Zion that rolled, I wept when the waters went over his soul. Yet thought not that my sins
had nailed to the tree, to hold him within you was nothing. When free grace awoke me, I lied
from on high. Then legal shears shook me, I
trembled to die. No refuge, no safety, My Savior must be. My terrors all vanished before
the sweet name. My guilty fears banished With
boldness I came to drink at the fountain, life-giving and free. Jehovah sent him to my Savior. Jehovah, good can you, my treasure
and boast? Jehovah, good can you, I ne'er
can be lost. I shall conquer my flood or my
field, my caper, my anchor, my breastplate and shield. In treading the valley, the shadow
of death, This watchword will rally my faltering breath. For while from life's fever my
God sets me free, Life. I was glad when they said unto
me, Let us go unto the house of our King. Let us praise his
precious name, Who bore our sins and took our blame. I was glad,
I was glad, I was glad. I was glad when I came into this
place, when I heard of His mercy and His grace. To a sinner such
as me, deserving hell and misery, I was glad, oh so glad, I was
glad. I was glad when he said unto
my soul, I have ransomed thee from sin and Satan's hold. Son of Jacob, loose thy chains,
for my love shall never change. I was glad, I was glad, I was
glad. I am glad the Savior went to
Calvary and shedded blood and washed me clean and set me free. God's anger's turned away and
I can tell you here today I am glad, I am glad, I am glad. Aren't you glad that the Lord
has brought us here? With His truth so abides, there
is no fear. Only evermore rejoice with our
mind, our heart, and voice. Praise His name, He is God, and
I am glad. All the evermore rejoice with
our mind and heart and voice. Praise his name, he is God and
I am glad. Now open your Bibles with me
to the book of John again, chapter three. There's a tendency on our part,
because of familiarity with certain passages of Scripture like this
one, to perhaps not listen as closely as we would if it were
a passage with which we weren't quite so familiar. In other words,
if I was speaking tonight of Ezekiel 36, maybe I'd get your
attention more quickly. And we'd think, well, I've read
this over and over and over and over again. Well, believe me,
I have too. And every time I read it and
study it, I get something new because it's God's Word. And
I believe that I'm going to show you some things tonight perhaps
that you haven't considered before. I call this message from John
3, Grace Claims the Glory. Grace Claims the Glory. And where I got that title was
from a song that Augustus Toplady wrote in 1774. He's the one who
wrote Rock of Ages. And he died when he was under
38 years of age. He died quite young. But he was
a great preacher and a great writer. And he wrote a song entitled,
Grace Claims the Glory. And these are the words. Not
for the works which we have done, or shall hereafter do, hath God
decreed on sinful worms salvation to bestow. The glory, Lord, from
first to last, is due to Thee alone. Ought to ourselves we
dare not take or rob Thee of Thy throne. Our glorious Savior
undertook to satisfy for man, and grace was given to us in
Him before the world began. Not one of all thy chosen race
but shall to heaven attain, partake on earth of thy sovereign grace,
and forever with Jesus reign. And Herodotus Bonar wrote these
words, which I also quote All that I was, my sin, my guilt,
my death, was all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee,
my gracious God alone." So that's what we're talking about here
in John 3. So look at it with me, John the third chapter. And
the first thing we encounter is this. There was a man of the
Pharisees. Now, who are the Pharisees? There
was a man of the Pharisees. Well, the Pharisees were very
religious people who prided themselves on being righteous and holy before
God because of their own works and morality. Those were the
Pharisees. They prided themselves on being
holy and righteous before God by what they did, by their works
and their religion and by their morality. For example, our Lord
said there were two men went to the temple to pray. One of
them was a publican, one of them was a Pharisee. And he said the
Pharisee prayed thus with himself, God, now this is a Pharisee,
God, I thank thee that I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not unjust, I'm not an adulterer. I tithe, I fast twice a week,
I give alms to the poor, and I'm not like that publican back
then. Now that's a pharisee, and that's
what this man was. Nicodemus was a pharisee. He
was a clean man, a moral man, a religious man, a traditional
religionist. He was a devout man. He was an
honest man, he was a man of integrity, he was a man who studied the
Scriptures, he was a man who taught the Scriptures, he was
a man who thought he had a perfect standing before God by what he
did. And we have Pharisees today.
You say, where are the Pharisees? Well, the Pharisees live and
thrive where good works and religious rituals and ceremonies and self-righteousness
reigns instead of grace. That's where Pharisees live.
There was a man of the Pharisees. All right, look at the next two
words. His name was what? Nicodemus. Now, this is interesting, and
anybody can do it. All you need are the right books. You get them in your library. A good thing to have, of course,
is a Bible and a dictionary, and a Bible dictionary, and a
concordance. and a good commentary and some
good sermons by faithful men. But I looked up the name Nicodemus. You know what it means? Nicodemus. When people named their children
back here in biblical days, they named them names that meant something,
in other words, that were meaningful. that it had something relative
to that occasion or so forth. And you know what Nicodemus means?
It means, and you can look it up yourself, innocent blood. Innocent blood. Here's what happened,
no doubt. When Nicodemus was born, his
mother and father saw this fine little boy, like Moses' mother
knew he was a goodly child, special child. And they saw this goodly
little child, this beautiful little baby boy, and the mother
and father must have said, probably his father was a Pharisee too,
and he must have said, there's no corrupt blood flowing in his
veins. There's no corrupt, especially
pagan or Gentile blood in his veins. So we're going to call
him a name corresponding to his beautiful, innocent nature. Innocent
blood, Nicodemus. Ah, they knew not his true nature,
did they? David said, I was shapen in iniquity. I was conceived in sin. My brother
brought me forth in sin. The wicked are strained from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies. I have no doubt that maybe some
of us have looked at our little day-old babies, and we've looked
at how can sin live in such a precious little bubble? But it does. Give
them time to grow up, and you'll find out they're not innocent
of blood at all, or innocent blood, but they're sinners, born
sinners, conceived in iniquity, shapen in sin, brought forth
speaking lies. Well, notice the next thing about
this man. He was a Pharisee, his name was
Nicodemus, innocent blood, and he was a ruler of the Jews. Now,
Nicodemus was one of the seventy. There was a council, a council
of seventy men that were the highest in the Jewish nation
called the Sanhedrin, and that's what this man was, a member of
the Sanhedrin. a member of the highest Jewish
court. Now, I want you to think about
this. Here's a man who does not know God. Here's a man who does
not know Christ. Here's a man to whom the Lord
Jesus said, If I told you earthly things and you don't understand,
what would you do if I told you heavenly things? And he's as
high as he can go in religion, just under the high priest. And
I'll tell you, it's amazing, it's amazing how successful men
and women can be in religion and how high they can climb without
any knowledge of God or any relationship with the Lord God or any understanding
of the Scriptures. There was a man of the Pharisees.
A special man, a talented man, a gifted man, a moral man, an
outstanding man, a ruler of the Jews, a man who climbed in religion
as high as you can climb. Well, let's notice the next line,
next statement about him. The same, oh, that's the same
man, this Pharisee, this Sanhedrin man, the same came to Jesus by
night. Now then, I know why he came
to Jesus by night. And a lot of times you hear messages,
and I've been guilty of this too often myself, of dwelling
on the fact that he came to Jesus by night. And I know why he came. He came by night because he feared
the Jews. That's why he came. He was somebody.
He was a Sanhedrin member. He was a ruler of the Jews. He
was a teacher. He was a—and here this Jesus,
who was despised and rejected of men. Everybody who was anybody
turned thumbs down on this Jesus fellow. But Nicodemus had a desire
to see him and to talk with him and to hear him and to inquire
of him. And Nicodemus came to Jesus by
night. He feared the Jews. He knew that
if they found out he was there, that he'd be put out of the synagogue
and he'd be put out of office. So he came to Jesus by night.
But I'll tell you this, he came. He came to Jesus. He came to
Jesus. Have you ever thought about this
in an understanding life? What matters what time he came?
He came. What matters why he came? Why
he came? What difference does it make
why he came? What matters is the place or the situation. He
came to Jesus. He came to listen. He came to
talk. He came to inquire. And I wish
everybody had come, don't you? Somebody might say, well, he
just came to church to please his mother. Well, thank God he
came. He may hear something. Let me tell you a story. There
was a man in our church. an older man. He came to hear
me preach. He was a Nazarene. He was a religious
Nazarene. And this is back in 1949 and
50. And he found out that he wasn't
hearing anything. He wasn't hearing the gospel.
He wasn't hearing the Bible. So he started going to all these
different churches, different churches, all over the tri-state
area, going to try to hear something. And he told his children, he
said, there's nobody pushing anything. Finally, he came over
to where I was preaching, the Pollard Baptist Church, in 1951, and he heard something. He heard
something. And he started coming every Sunday.
And he came, and he had a daughter came with him, but none of the
other children, none of his friends, would come. He had one son, and
the son would not come. He was very religious, too. He
wouldn't come to hear me preach. But the daddy kept coming. And
the church split and divided, and we built this 13th Street
Baptist Church, and the years passed, and this son lived two
doors from the church, and he was never inside our building.
His father was there every service, loved the gospel. His sister
loved the gospel, but this son and his wife and three sons and
daughters wouldn't step inside this, our building, wouldn't
listen to this hated gospel. And so one day, the old man went
home from church. He's way up in years now. This
is about 1965, the years have passed by. He went home from
church one Sunday. He was sitting in the living
room crying. And one of the other daughters came in, and she said,
Papa, why are you crying? He said, none of my children
will go to church with me. I know the gospel that I believe
is the gospel, and they won't come here. It breaks my heart,
because they won't come here to the gospel. And the daughter
told the son and the other daughters and the family and all that. So his birthday came around,
Sunday night. They all surprised him and came
to church with him, the whole kit and caboodle. I mean, there
were 15 or 20 of them over there on my left. Even some friends
came, and the son came, and the son's wife came, and the son's
three sons, and the daughter came, and all of them came and
sat over here. Let me tell you something. God
gave me a message, gave me a word. Once in a while, we preach. Not
every time we get up, but once in a while, it's power. And that
son heard the gospel, and God crushed him and broke him. And the son said almost aloud,
Lord, not here. You're not leading me here. Surely
you're not leaving me." And that son and his three sons, and wife
and daughter, are some of the finest believers we have in our
church right now. Gerald Kuhns, his name is written.
But he came. He came, one reason he came,
because it's his daddy's birthday. That's the only reason he came
to that service. He came to satisfy an old man. He came to dry up the tears of
an old man, and God bested his heart. He's one of the strongest
believers in the grace of God you'll find anywhere. God saved
him. God saved him. I baptized him. He confessed Christ. Six feet,
three inches, two hundred and twenty pounds of man, you know. But God, God can break the biggest
one, and the hardest one, and the meanest one, and the most
religious one. If the Lord God please to visit
you, he'll visit you in power and grace. Well, Nicodemus came
to Jesus. What difference does it make
when he came or how he came or why he came? I tell you, if he
learns anything, he's going to have to come to Jesus. If he
learns anything, he's going to have to come to Jesus. God, who
at sundry times and in diverse manners spake to our fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he made
the worlds, who are the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person." Came to Jesus. All right, let's go on.
And he says to Jesus, Rabbi, that's master. Now let me tell
you something. This man addressed the Lord Jesus
according to his station. He addressed the Lord Jesus according
to his profession and his station, Master, Master. This man had
learned something of etiquette and respect. You don't find a
lot of that in this day, do you? He came, he said, Master, we
know that your teacher come from God. Now, this man was no religious
fool. This man was religious, and he
was a self-righteous man. He was trying to go to God the
wrong way. He didn't know Christ, nor did
he understand who Christ was or what his mission was, but
he had sense enough to know that this man was from God. This man
was from God. A couple of weeks ago, you had
this to hear, me and your father, Ed Ballard. I've known Ed Ballard
for years. I knew him before he knew God.
I knew him when he was a religious person who didn't know Christ.
I knew him when he was a high-muckety-muck in a high-muckety-muck church. And one Sunday he quit church,
almost 40 years of age. Yes, he was almost 40 then. He
just quit, told his pastor, he said, I'm not coming back. He's
been there since he's eight years old. And his pastor said, why
aren't you coming back yet? He said, I just not coming back. He said, I'm not hearing anything.
I'm not hearing anything here. I've been here since I was eight
years old and I hadn't heard anything. He said, I don't even
know what I'm not hearing. I don't know what it is I'm not
hearing. I just know I'm not hearing anything. And I'm quick. And he did. And because we were
friends and some of the folks in our church were his friends,
he came to our church one Sunday. And you sit there and look at
me and listen to me preach and just pray on, you know. And I'd
meet him at the door and shake hands with him when he went out.
I'd say, Ed, come back. He'd say, I might. I might. I never will forget. I remember
the Sunday he came and sat down. Oh, I tell you, it's such a joy
to see the Spirit of God move in the heart of a sinner. See
him take the Word and just Just like a pierced, like a sword
pierced the soul and the heart. Got to do a two-edged sword.
And I preached that Sunday morning. Went back and shook hands and
Ed got me and his father came walking out the door and took
me by the hand, a big ol' smile on his face. I said, Ed, come
back. He said, I'll be back tonight. And I'll be back Wednesday. And
I'll be back next Sunday. I see, I see, I see what you're
saying. That's what I've not been hearing.
And that's Nicodemus, you see, if you can find an honest man.
Barnard used to preach a sermon entitled, Honest People Don't
Go to Hell. Honest people don't go to hell. You say, well, there's no honest
man. I know there's none good but God, but I'm saying there's
a man who will face who he is. and who God is, and who Christ
is, and what this Word is, and walk in the light God gives him,
God will give him more life. Isn't that right? An honest man, a man, and Nicodemus
came to Jesus. He said, Rabbi, I know you're
from God. I don't know what you're saying,
and I don't understand it. But I know it's from God. And
that's what Eddie Ballard used to say, didn't he? I mean, he'd
sit, he kept coming back, listening to me, and somebody said, why
are you going there? He'd say, I don't know what he's saying,
but I know he's getting it out of the Bible. And I know what he's saying is
God's Word. It's God's Word, and I'm going
to keep on going until I find out what it means. Oh, man, if
a man will get that kind of attitude, that kind of spirit, Rabbi, I
know, I know this, I don't know who you are, I don't know what
you're saying, I don't know the mysteries of your teaching, but
I know you're from God, because no man could do what you're doing
except God's with him. I know that much." That's what
he said, wasn't it? Boy, I'm impressed by that. I
wish, you know, that was the Bereans. Why not the Bereans
that searched the Scriptures? They heard Paul preach, and they
went home and searched the Scriptures. Seek those things of Saul. I've had people say lots of times,
the first time I came to hear you, what you said didn't make
any sense to me. I know it doesn't make any sense
to natural men. God has to give us an understanding
of His Word. The Spirit has to give us an
understanding. We've got to find out who He
is and who we are and who Christ is and what He did and why He
did it. The glory belongs to God. Old Nicodemus came, and
so our Lord answered him. I want you to look here at verse
3. Notice our Lord's answer. And
Jesus answered and said to him, "'Verily, verily, I say unto
you.'" You know what that verily, verily is? It's truly, truly.
Truly, truly, I say to you, and one of the writers said this,
this is the equivalent of, Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the
Lord. It's Christ speaking, and Christ
speaking with the authority, with the authority given him
by the Father. Verily, verily, truly, truly,
Nicodemus Thus saith the Lord, thus saith the Lord, Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except a man be born again. Do
you have in your Bible, by that word again, a little letter?
Look in the margin. What does it say from above? Nicodemus, Nicodemus, with all
of your learning and your morality and your study and your traditions
and your ceremonies and all these things. You start at the wrong
end. The whole religious world starts
at the wrong end. The whole religious world begins
at the wrong end. They begin trying to persuade
men down here to do something for themselves or something for
God. and what's got to precede any knowledge I have of God or
anything I do in the name of God, God has to do something
for me. I've got to be born, not from
beneath, but from above. I've got something A spiritual
life has got to be begotten in me from above. Except a man born
from above, born of God, he cannot see. What is this he cannot see,
the kingdom of God? He cannot understand it. 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us, that's born again, hath begotten us again
unto a living hope for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God."
If we're going to be made alive spiritually, we're going to have
to be born from above. Born from above. We cannot... You know, when our Lord used
this word, see, He cannot see the kingdom of God. That is,
He cannot understand it. Have you ever tried to explain
something to someone if you're If you're showing someone something
that they want to learn to do, sewing or building, you'll say,
now do you see? You move this over, do you see?
What do you say? Of course he sees, but does he
understand? You see, the kingdom of God is
spiritual. We're carnal. The kingdom of
God is heavenly. We are of the earth. The kingdom
of God is grace and spirit. We are carnal, materialistic,
and of the earth, and we cannot see or understand the kingdom
of God unless we have the life of God. Let me show you a couple
of scriptures. Turn to Romans 14. Romans 14.
Listen to this. Romans 14, verse 17-18. The kingdom of God. is not meat and drink, but righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things,"
in what things? "...in righteousness and peace
and joy serveth Christ, he is acceptable of God and approved
of men." The kingdom of God is meat, not meat and drink. And
I'll show you another one. Turn, if you will, to Luke 17. Listen to this. Luke 17. Verse
20, Luke 17, 20. And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, so they had
an idea of the kingdom of God being a Jewish kingdom and an
earthly kingdom, a worldly kingdom, here upon this earth. He said,
The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, that is, with
outward show. Neither shall they say, Lo, here,
or lo, there, for behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
The kingdom of God is spirit. It's spiritual. And this is what
he says to Nicodemus, except a man be born from above, born
of God, he cannot understand or see or comprehend the kingdom
of God, which is within you. All right, watch Nicodemus now
when he replies. Nicodemus demonstrates his carnality
now, and his flesh, and it's natural. Here's what he said.
Nicodemus said, How can a man be born again when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? He took the word born naturally,
he took the word again naturally, and this is what he came up with.
If I'm born again, then I re-enter my mother's womb and be born
like the first time. And the Lord answered and said,
verse 5, listen, truly, truly, thus saith the Lord, I say unto
you, Except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot
enter. He's not even part of the kingdom
of God. Born from above. In other words,
our birth, our spiritual birth, is by the will of God. The will
of God. It's according to the purpose
of God. It begins with God. It is by the power of God. That's
right. And there are two things that
God uses in this new birth, the Spirit and the water. Now, what
is the water? The water is the Word. I do know
this. I know there's a little letter
there by the word water, and it refers you to Mark 16, 16,
which says, Go ye and baptize them and so forth, but it's not
This water here is not this kind of water. It's not at all. Baptismal regeneration. You see,
this prevailed back yonder years ago when they'd bring little
babies before the preacher, and the preacher would sprinkle water
on them. Baptismal regeneration. They were brought into the covenant.
Like circumcision of old included the Jewish boy in the covenant,
this sprinkling included these children in the covenant. But
every member of the mafia from old Greece and Italy was sprinkled
on his babies, and he didn't regenerate them. He didn't give
them new life. This walker, wherewithal shall
a young man cleanse his way, but taking heed to the word of
God. Word of God. Now turn to that
scripture you read in the study, Rick, Titus. Let me show you
something here, Titus. Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter
2, or chapter 3, Titus 3, verse 5. Now listen to this. Titus
3, 5. It's not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the
washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
There's those two things, the water and the Spirit. Our Lord
said, Nicodemus, except the man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Here it is again. The washing
of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Spirit. All right,
turn now with me to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter
5, verse 26. Ephesians 5, 26. Now listen to
this. Ephesians 5, 26. Verse twenty-five, Ephesians
5, twenty-five, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify
it, and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the Word, by
the Word. And we're born, now listen to
me, we're born again, born from above. God elected
us, God chose us, that's just something. God chose His people.
Jacob hath a love, Esau hath a hate. This is the will of God. A man doesn't go to church to
get born again. A man doesn't come down to make a decision
for Jesus to get born again. A man is born again when he's
born of God. A woman is born again when they're
born from above. I'm telling you the truth. But
now God uses means, and the means in this birth are the Word and
the Spirit. Now let me show you that in James
chapter 1. Listen to this. Turn over there.
James chapter 1. James chapter 1 verse 18. James
1 18. It says in James 1 18, Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth. How did God begat us
with the word? Our Lord said a sower went forth
to sow, and the seed is what? The sower is the Son of Man,
and the seed is the Word of God. Now whose will, by whose will
were you saved? Of his own will. He beget you,
he conceived you, he gave you life. How? With the Word of truth
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Now turn to
I Peter, I Peter chapter 1 Peter 1, verse 23, 1 Peter 1, 23. Now look at it. Being born again,
1 Peter 1, 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, and
that word is semen, that's what that word is, not of corruptible
semen, but of incorruptible seed, how? By the Word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying what our Lord said here. Nicodemus stood there. He said, Nicodemus, truly, truly,
I say to you, and Nicodemus was in religion, you know all these
things. Our Lord said, except the man be born from above. From
above, born of God. He cannot understand. He can't
comprehend. You know, when our Lord was on
this earth in the flesh, they crucified him. Why? They didn't
know who he was. He was in the world, and the
world knew him not. They knew him not. He came into his own,
to his own temple, to his own priesthood, to his own people,
to his own nation, to his own sacrifices. And his own received
him not. He said, if the princes of this
world had known who He was, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord
of glory. But eye hath not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man the things God
has prepared for them that love Him. But He hath revealed them
unto us by His Spirit. except a man be born from above,
he cannot see, understand, enter into the mysteries of the kingdom
of God. He can't even understand what
this word's saying if he's born again. We're not born again because
we love God. We love God because we're born
again. We're not born again because we believe the gospel. We believe
the gospel because we're born again. That's right. You don't love each other. You're
not born again because you love each other. You love each other
because you're born again. It's impossible to love each
other unless you're born again. You don't see the kingdom of
God unless you're born again. You don't understand it. It's
nonsense. It's foolishness. It's ridiculous
unless you're born again. And Nicodemus said, Well, how?
How can you be born again? Do you go back to your mother's
womb and be born? No. Christ said you're born again by two
things, by the Spirit of God and the Word of God. A man reads
the Word and the Spirit of God takes the seed, puts it in the
heart. Isn't that right? Isn't that
what he's saying? Of his own will began he us with the Word. God had chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. It's like that man Gerald
came and listened. Spirit of God took the Word of
God and gave him life. It's like your daddy came. Spirit
of God took the Word of God. He didn't do it first Sunday.
In Gerald's case, he did. First time. First time. Ethiopian eunuch, first time
he heard Philip. God opened his eyes. The Word
opened his eyes. The Word gave him life. Other
people come and sit. You know Ron Trabant? You've
been over here and preached, haven't you? He sat on the back
row and listened to me preach fifteen years. Fifteen years! He was a teacher in the high
school. Every Sunday morning. Never came any other service.
Never came for anything. He was a religious man. He and
his wife came on Sunday morning and did their duties. sat and
listened to the sermon, got walked out. And one Sunday morning,
God's Spirit gave him life. And he heard it. You know where
he sits now? Front row. And preaches it. That's why I'm always saying,
unless a man, look at verse six again. first trial. He said,
men be born of water, of the Word, and of the Spirit. He cannot enter the kingdom of
God. Now, I love good music, good
music. Terry stands there and sings,
and Jeanette, isn't that wonderful? And your pastor led you. He says,
listen to the Word, listen to the Word. Why does he keep saying,
listen to the Word? Well, first of all, don't you
think we're listening to him? No, most folks don't. And it's
not the melody that's going to save you. It's not the sweet
voice that's going to save you. It's the Word! Isn't that right,
Jeanette? That's the reason you select
them so carefully. It's the Word of God that He
blesses. And oh, I wish we had ears to
hear the Word, the Word of God, and we'd see Christ in this Word.
That, verse six, listen to verse six, that which is born of the
flesh, it's flesh, it can't be anything else. And that which
is born of the spirit, it's spirit. That's the reason Paul began
to experience some conflict in Romans 7. It's the spirit against
the flesh, the flesh against the spirit. He's two men now.
And that's what you are. When you're born the first time,
of your mother and father, your flesh. And you may be the most
wicked flesh or you may be the most moral flesh. You may be
irreligious or you may be religious. You may be immoral or you may
be moral, but you're still flesh. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And
when a man's born again, he's still flesh. That woman's still
flesh. And that flesh is still flesh.
That's all it is. And it'll give you trouble, it'll
give you struggles. That flesh still looks out of
the same eye, still admires the same thing, still hears the same
thing, still thinks the same thing, still craves the same
thing. That's flesh. But that spirit is the Spirit
of God. It's the life of God. It's the nature of God. And that's
when you start having trouble. Somebody says, well, I'll get
saved and my troubles will be over. You'll get saved and your troubles
will begin. Because you've got two natures, and they're conflict,
they're in conflict, they're in warfare, they're constantly
in conflict and warfare. One lusts against the other,
and the other against that one. So you can't do what you will.
You see what I'm saying? You've got two natures, and one
of these days you're going to lay aside that old man, that
old nature, and that new nature is in perfect righteousness and
holiness, is going to live with God. And while we're here, Paul keeps
exhorting us, subdue that old flesh, mortify that old flesh,
put down that old flesh, don't let him get the upper hand, suppress
him. Isn't that right? That old man.
Why does he keep saying that? Because it's real. It's real. All right. Then he said to Nicodemus, I've
got to bring this to a close. Let me show you a couple more
things. He said, Nicodemus, verse seven, Now do not be amazed that
I said unto you, you must be born again. This was contrary
to anything Nicodemus had ever been taught. You see, I was preaching
things like this when Mr. Ballard was sitting there in
France. He couldn't understand it. And other people have sat
there, and Ron Travis sat there and ignored it, you know. But
I tell you, when God gives you eyes and ears and a heart to
understand it, You understand this? Hey, this is my experience. This is what God says, and this
is what I live. This is real. I do love Christ. I do hate sin, but I do sin. Sin remains. It doesn't reign. I don't like it. I don't love
it, but I have to face it. It's real. Understand what you
see. It meets my needs. You must be
born again. Life is the gift of God. And then listen to what he said
in verse 8. You see, Nicodemus, the wind bloweth where it listeth,
and you hear the sound thereof. You can't tell whence it cometh
or whither it goeth. What's our Lord saying? Something
all of us know. You hear the wind. You don't
know its origination. You hear the sound, you see the
results, see the leaves move, and then it goes away. You don't
know where it's going. You don't know where it's going to blow next.
With what intensity of power? Why? Because you don't have any
control over the wind. Well, who does? Well, let's see
if we can find out. Turn to Psalm 135. This is interesting
here. And Doris heard me preach this
message at home, and I think she remembered this more than
anything else. So listen to it carefully. Psalm 135, 7. Psalm
135, 7. Verse 5. Let's look at Psalm 135, verse
5. I know that the Lord's great, and that our Lord is above all
God's idols. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven and earth and the sea and all deep places.
He caused it, the vapors, to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He maketh lightnings for the rain. He bringeth the wind out
of His treasure. Who controls the wind? My Father. Look at Psalm 147. Psalm 147,
verse 18, 19. Psalm 147, verse 18. Got it? he sendeth out his word, and
melteth them." Oh, I've seen that happen. I've seen it harden
them, too. Haven't you, Paul? I've seen
the word harden people. I've seen it melt people. Watch
it. He calls it, his wind to blow, and the waters to flow. And he shows his word unto the
sons of Jacob, to Jacob and his sons, his statutes and his judgments
to Israel. Whose wind is it? It's His wind. It's His wind. He causes His
wind to blow. He brings the wind from the treasurers. It's His wind. You see that?
You know, the disciples said, when our Lord said, Peace, be
still, and the wind stopped, and the waves lay down at His
feet like a shepherd dog, and the disciples marveled and said,
Who is this man that even the winds obey His voice? Or read
that verse 8 in our text, John 3, 8. The wind blows where it
listed, and you hear the sound thereof, and you can't tell whence
it cometh or whither it goeth. So is everyone that's born of
the Spirit. I've stood in the pulpit and
seen a young man or young woman in the service, somebody's loved
one, somebody's son or daughter, and I've preached to them. I've
aimed at that target. I've aimed the word at that target.
I've shot the word at that target. I've preached to that person.
I've appealed to that person. He didn't hear a word I said.
And somebody over here did. Somebody over there. I didn't
even know him. Wasn't even thinking about him. Wasn't even shooting
at him. I shot an arrow into the air.
It fell to earth, Ed. I knew not where. But he knew
where. It's his arrow. It's his sword. It's his wind. He's the one that gives life,
uses the Word, preaches the Spirit of God to make it effective.
Not by might, not by power, by my Spirit, said the Lord. And
then Nicodemus said, Lord, Master, how can these things be? Well,
are you asking that? How can this be? Here. Everybody gets religion, but
some people get saved. Some people meet God. And those
who meet God and those who are saved are those whom God has
selected, God has chosen. And they'll sit and listen, and
He'll take the Word. How can these things be? How
big is your God? That's how they can be. If He
said, Let there be light, He can say, Let there be light.
He can save. You think of somebody God can't
save. Is anything too hard for God? You know, in a told story
where she's going to have a son, she laughs. I ain't nothing too hard for
my God. Let me give you another song I read. Just like the wind
is his grace, all sovereign and all free. Great God, how unsearchable
are thy ways, how deep thy judgments be. The sovereign will of God
alone created me an heir of grace, born in the image of his Son,
a new peculiar race. The Spirit, like a heavenly wind,
blows on these sons of flesh and creates a new and a heavenly
mind and forms life afresh. You don't pray for revival. You pray that preachers will
preach the Word, the truth of God. That's when revival will
come. That's when revival—revival's not going to come through whipping
it up and organizing it up and doing all that. The revival will
come when somebody starts preaching the gospel in the power of the
Holy Ghost, and God gives life. That's how it comes. All right.
Thank you.